The general concept of a network manager is well known and is implemented in some network industry applicable standards. Some of the advantages of a managed network are that the nodes can make better use of the given channel resources; there is better support of applications requiring quality of service (QoS) such as voice, video, audio; and there is support of low-power consumption and/or low-MIPS applications.
In some standards (for example, DOCSIS1.1, IEEE1394, IEEE802.11, incorporated herein by reference), isochronous operation is obtained by dividing the time axis into multi-frames, and using a network manager. The manager can be selected in various ways. A manager in this context is a station on the network that has the authority to distribute channel resources and determine which station currently has the right to transmit. The multi-frame (of constant or variable length) is divided into two periods: A contention free period (CFP); and a contention period (CP).
Nodes that support a managed network, sometimes referred to as point coordination function (PCF) capable, are given channel resources (that is, time periods) within the CFP. These nodes may transmit also in the CP, mostly using it for short management or data packets (for example, request for channel resources within the CFP). Variations on this method exist (for example, short CP's within the CFP).
Other standards, such as Ethernet IEEE Std 802.3 and HomePNA2.0, incorporated herein by reference, do not support managed networks. Instead they use contention-based techniques. Options for controlling media access on the contention based network may include CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense, Multiple Access, With Collision Detection) or CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense, Multiple Access, With Collision Avoidance). Generally, stations with a packet ready for transmission sense the line and transmit only when the media is free. If two stations collide, an algorithm exists to resolve the collision.